Vol. 554 No. 5
405 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Finance if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 138 of 26 June 2002, he plans to adopt improved practices or procedures following his consultation with the Department of Agriculture and Food. [15789/02]
In my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 138 of 26 June 2002, I indicated that I would consult with the Minister for Agriculture and Food to consider, in the light of the review undertaken by his Department, whether any lessons could be learned from their experience in relation to the UMP (Ballaghaderreen) case that could usefully be applied to other State agencies. My officials have been in contact with the Department of Agriculture and Food to follow up on this issue, and the following is the position.
Following the fire at UMP in January 1992, the Department of Agriculture and Food engaged independent consultants to review the nature and scope of insurance cover on the beef intervention stock. As a result of this review a number of upgraded conditions have been applied by the Department since then. However, in the context of preparing for trial of the Ballaghaderreen cases, legal opinions were obtained on a wide range of insurance-related questions which I understand are still in the process of being examined in detail by the Department of Agriculture and Food to assess whether there are any further steps which could be taken to reduce exposure in any similar case in the future.
